Art-O-Mat

Before my Mom and I went up to Portland, we were down at my Grandma's house visiting for the day. While there, my Aunt Dorothy mentioned something called and Art-o-Mat to me, and said she thought I might be interested in it. She sent me the link to the website later, and I checked it out.

Art-o-Mat was created by a group called Artists in Cellophane. An Art-o-Mat is an old retired cigarette dispenser that has been turned into an art dispenser. Artists from all over the world can submit their art to be sold in the machines at $5 a piece. Cool idea, right? Mom and I thought it looked pretty interesting, and we wanted to check one out in person. So, we searched the website for one between Roseburg and Portland, and we found one in Eugene, at Lane Community College, in their Art gallery.

Mom and I were totally excited and planned on stopping by on our way to The Pioneer Woman's book signing. Monday afternoon, we pulled into the college, and went searching for the Art-o-Mat. Well, first we had to search for an ATM, and then we had to search for a place to break a $20, but THEN we searched for the Art-o-Mat. We came into the art gallery, and this is what we found:

The Art-o-Mat

There are 22 slots on the Art-o-Mat, each with a different featured artist. There are painters, photographers, jewelers, metal works, potters, and other kinds of artists featured, and they are different at every machine. Basically, you put $5 in the machine, choose which kind of art you want, and then pull the handle below that peice. Each artist makes a little picture describing what kind of art the sell, but you don't know exactly what you get until it comes out of the machine. It's like a quarter machine for big kids!! Mom and I originally thought we would just get one each, but we were so curious about the other artists, we ended up getting a few others.

A few of the artists.

Mom and I just loved this whole experience. It is such a cool idea for people to be able to advertise their art, and also for other people to be able to experience different kinds of art. I decided that I am going to submit and application to see if they will sell some of my art. I may actually do a few different kinds of art... jewelry, photography, etc. I think it would be a lot of fun to be able to have my art in these machines across the country!

I hope you take the time to check these out. For my friends in the Sacramento area, there is an Art-o-Mat near you, in the Crocker Art Museum. They are also scattered all over the country, and you can find one close to you by going here. And have fun, I know I did!!

~Amber

A Trip to Remember: The Pioneer Woman in Portland!

Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

I have been following The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) on her blog for the last year and a half or so. When I found out that she would be signing her cookbook in Portland, I was beyond excited, and made plans with my Mom right away to make the trip together. Mom is about 3 hours from Portland, and I am another 2 1/2 hours from Mom, so it was going to be a long trip, but we knew it was worth it!

I drove up to my Mom's house on Sunday night, and tried to get some sleep.... but.... instead of sleeping I decided to make some jewelry for Mom and I to wear the next day. Plus, I wanted to finish the jewelry I was making to give to Ree at her book signing. So, I got about 3 hours of sleep or so. Mom drove to Portland though, so I just got some rest in then.

Monday morning, we started to head up to Portland at about 11:00 or so. Much later than planned, but it ended up working out just fine. We made a few pit stops, (one in particular in Eugene, which I will talk more about in another post!) and we arrived in Beaverton, OR at about 3:30. The first thing we did was go buy Ree's cookbook. Now, I actually already have her cookbook, but I accidentally left mine at home!! AHHH! I was about an hour away from home when I realized what I had done, and I decided to just buy a new one instead of going back home. Geez! What a ditz!

The book signing didn't actually start until 6:00, but it was sure a good thing that we got there when we did, because shortly after we arrived, people started pouring in! I believe there were about 500 people there total, and we were only behind about 60 people when we arrived. I took the time before Ree arrived to finishing putting together the little gift I had put together for her and to take a few pictures of the crowd.

The crowd behind us. There were people standing on the planters in the walkway of the mall to see!

A little something for Ree. :-)

Ree arrived just a little after 6, and started things off with a little Q&A from the audience. She was just so sweet and friendly, and it showed how much she truly cares about her readers. She was very funny, as usual, and very heartfelt as well. It was really a pleasure to hear her speak!

Ree, during Q&A

Definitely a beauty, on the inside and out.


Signing her cookbook.

The book signing started next, and Mom and I had our turn to meet Ree after about 30 minutes or so. Now, this is where things got a little funny... I had borrowed my Aunt's camera for the weekend, and my Mom had never used it. I had been using the zoom to get some shots of Ree earlier, and forgot to reset it, so when Mom went to take my picture with Ree, it was zoomed in WAY too close on our faces and Mom couldn't figure out how to fix it! The workers at the bookstore had made it very clear that everyone needed to be speedy in out picture taking so as not to hold up the line, so when Mom couldn't work the camera, she started to get flustered. Poor Mom!! Luckily, we got it all worked out, and have some great pics of us with Ree to show from the ordeal. Ree was so sweet, and was just laughing with us about it.

Mom having trouble with the camera, too funny!

My Momma with Ree

Ree & I :-)

After we met Ree, Mom and I stopped at Starbucks for a drink. We laughed about the camera incident, and talked about how genuine and real Ree was We admired our new cookbooks with our personalized inscriptions, and then we headed back home.

Mom, with her cookbook.

Our signed cookbooks!

All in all, it was a great day. It was a great experience to be able to share with my Mom, and we had a blast! Thank you Ree, for giving us the opportunity to meet you. Your blog inspires me on a daily basis, as do you. It was truly an honor to meet you! I hope you enjoyed your trip to the West Coast!

~Amber

Great Excitement is Coming My Way!

Do you know who The Pioneer Woman is? Do you read her blog? If not, you should! Ree is a city girl turned country wife that lives in the middle of nowhere on a ranch with her husband and their four children. Her blog, http://thepioneerwoman.com/, has 5 different sections: Confessions, Cooking, Photography, Home & Garden, and Homeschooling. Every one of the sections of her blog are great. They are interesting, educational, informative, hilarious and just really fun all around. She hosts giveaways and contests quite frequently too, so you can't beat that! Ree is a very talented blogger/author, which can truly be seen through the section on her site titled "Black Heels and Tractor Wheels". This section is the love story of Ree and her cowboy husband, from how they met to their wedding day. It is a captivating story, and is actually going to be published soon!

Anyways.... The reason I am so excited is because on Monday, I am going to get to meet The Pioneer Woman! Ree wrote a cookbook over the past few years, and it was just published last year. She went on a book tour last fall, and now she is continuing on a shorter second leg of that tour. She will be in Portland on Monday, and my Mom and I have decided to drive up to get our cookbooks signed by Ree. I'm pretty jazzed about going... I can't wait!

Even better, I am hopefully going to get to visit with an old friend or two while I am up there. I have a few friends in the Portland area, and it would certainly be nice to spend a little time catching up. Of course, driving up and back with my Mom will be great too, since I have the best Mom in the world. :-) We always have a blast together!

On another note, my Etsy shop is not only up and running, I actually made my first sale today! A friend of mine from Sacramento ordered a pair of earrings today, and I was beyond stoked when I saw that "1 sale" on the side of my profile! Heehee... I'm easily excited I suppose!

Well, I need to head to bed... Next week, I am planning on posting some pictures from my ceramics class. I have been meaning to do that for weeks, but I keep forgetting my camera when I leave for class! UGH! This will be the week... I promise!

Goodnight all...

~Amber

Etsy!!

Yay me! I finally have a Blog and an Etsy site with a name I LOVE! I started a new Etsy account today... The name "ArtEscapes" was taken, so instead I just used the same name as my blog and called it HeArtEscapes. Soooo, my new Etsy store can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/people/HeArtEscapes

I also just got a package in the mail with all the stuff I need to mat my photography. Now it is time for me to take pics of everything, and start posting on Etsy. It looks like things are finally starting to come together, and I couldn't be more excited!!

Well, I better get to work! I have lots to do to get my shop up and running. :-)

~Amber

Just a tip.

Don't start Weight Watchers (or any other diet/workout plan) the week of your birthday.

:-/

That's all. Have a nice day!

~Amber

New Blog!

Hello friends!

I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be switching my blog over to my brand new blog name: Heart Escapes. You can find it here: http://heartescapes.blogspot.com/. I will be posting there from now one, starting this week. I will also be moving all my content from this blog over to there in the next day or two.

I hope to see you all there! :-)

~Amber